Category Archives: Stage

Music on the Porch (5/24/2012)

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Music on the Porch is another grass-roots project that makes downtown a great place to be. No major label, no national operator, not even a local bar trying to sell a few extra beers: Music on The Porch has grown from a neighborhood party to a nice and regular event the is now in its 4th season and is a 12-concert series this year. This is decidedly a family event, but responsible BYOB is the norm (for the adults of course!) Hitting the stage this weekend is Raleigh’s own Andy Coats & the Bank Walkers, playing “the genres in which so much rock is rooted: the blues and other roots based music”. Pack the kids and the picnic basket and head out to Mordecai Historic Park at 6pm. Pay a $5 donation upfront on their website to support this amazing event.Andy Coats & the Bank Walkers

Artsplosure/Kidsplosure (5/19-20, 2012)

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Update: I added links to all the performers here.

Another annual event is taking place this weekend: Artsplosure. Centered around Moore Square, but with locations throughout downtown, this is a festival that celebrates the visual and performing arts. Art exhibits, three stages and of course the necessary food and drink offerings. For Kids, there is Kidsplosure, featuring three kinds of craft activities (weaving, paper flowers, and headbands). A dedicated stage brings music, theatre and acrobatics. The website unfortunately does not link to the acts. Taylor Slay, Acroentertainment and the NC theatre will certainly excite the kids. There are also some kids ensembles/band performing Jazz, classical and rock music. Kidsplosure takes place on Moore Square on the side towards Marbles. Art booths can be found around Moore Square and Blount Street, and there is an “Impressionist Garden” on City Plaza.

Learning to Work the New “Yo-Yo” (from Artsplosure 2007) by abbyladybug, used under the  CC BY-NC license

First Friday: Circus and Art (5/4/2012)

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CircusSPARK Parade

CircusSPARK Parade

This is another First Friday where the warehouse district is drawing all (our) attention. You may hesitate to bring your children to a “PBR-inspired art show”, especially once you realize that it doesn’t stand for Parents Best Reasoning, but simply Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Fire Performance

Fire Performance (CircusSPARK)

But read on. The PBaRt event on Martin street also features several street performances. First on, at 6:30 and 8:00 is Cirque de Vol, the newly opened/opening Aerial Acrobatics Studio in Hue. (Note: They have circus camp and kids yoga!) Finally, if your kids last until 8:30 they can see a fire performance by the CircusSpark team.

In addition to the abundant regular food options in the area, Baguettaboutit will be at CAM and Klausie’s Pizza at PBaRt.

Shakori Hills Festival (4/19-4/22 2012)

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Shakori Hills (2008)

If you’re one of those folks who used to go to festivals in the BC era (Before Children), this is the season where you start thinking back to the good old days of outdoors live music, bonfire-roasted marshmallows, beer spilled on your sleeping bag and not-finding-your-tent-anymore at three o’clock in the morning. But we’ve grown up, moved on, and little kids and rowdy festivals don’t mix well. Or do they? If you want to  Continue reading →

ClydeFEST (4/5/2013)

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The original article below is from 2012; everything should be the same in 2013 except for the new date Apr-6 and some minor corrections.

Chatham Orange (oops) County does have its share of eclectic characters, and Clyde Jones is one of them. Clyde however, has the pretty unique distinction of having his own event, that annual ClydeFEST which is held for the 11th time in 2012 12th time in 2013. If you’ve never heard of Clyde, here an (older) video about him:

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/8196961]

As you can see in the video, ClydeFEST is not some high-brow art happening. This is an event for kids! The website of the Chatham Arts Council who organizes this event annually says that “ClydeFEST is an all day Kids’ Carnival Folk Art Festival of Art, Games, Music, Magic, Clowns, Hula Hoops, Local Food, and loads of other fun and excitement.” In addition, there are several performers scheduled on the stage, and food and drinks for several vendors will not be in short supply either.

ClydeFEST takes place in Bynum; Bynum is where 15-501 crosses the Haw river, and once you’re in Bynum, you can’t miss it. To get there, take 64 West and then 15-501 North, or 40 West and 15-501 South.

First Robotics Competition (4/52012-4/7/2012)

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FIRST Robotics Competition by North Charleston , used under the CC-BY-SA license_resized

FIRST Robotics Competition

Every year in Spring, high school students around the world are in full-on geek mode as they prepare for the FIRST Robotics Competition. FIRST is a non-profit that encourages kids interest in science and technology.

This weekend hosts the regional finals at Dorton Arena. Building, programming and controlling the robots is decidedly stuff for high school kids, but watching the competition is fun for the entire family. WRAL has a video from last year’s event.

FIRST Robotics Competition by North Charleston, used under the  CC-BY-SA license. (This photo is from last year’s event in Charleston SC.)

First Friday (Fri 4/6/12)

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Karolina Sobecka, Sniff. Courtesy of the artist.

Karolina Sobecka, Sniff. Courtesy of the artist. (Currently on Display at CAM Raleigh.)

First Friday is always a good idea to expose to the kids to some art and downtown happenings. Born Digital (including the digital dog pictured on the left) is still up at CAM, I wrote a review about it last week. There is a high school art project on display at VAE, that could be interesting: Students from Garner High School created an art project in one of those movable storage container (PODS) and it is sitting outside VAE in a parking space. (Upcoming First Fridays will feature different schools in the same space.) The main highlights are two events that are probably too close together time-wise to catch both:

First, Invisible is doing a performance at CAM at 7:30p. I’ve seen the Greensboro-based group once live in concert, and it is mesmerizing for the young and old. My best description would be ‘steam punk synthesizers’. Think an old piano triggering little hammers that bang on found objects. Amazing to see and hear. They will perform The New Obsolete. (Below is a video of an older project.)

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/18959055]

Second, Morning Times is hosting the Morning Times Market (many artists, including Johnny Swank who I like), and the Pickle Mamas will be “fire hooping” with the Raleigh Drum Circle. It is schedule at 8pm, so you probably have to make up your mind: Warehouse District or Salisbury and Hargett. Either way, the kids will enjoy it. (No rain expected, but dress warm enough the be outside.)

Barbie Bash (4/7/12)

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Love her or hate her, Barbie is here to stay and does not get tired. In this latest installment she is a successful surfer and mermaid. The movie is rated appropriate for age 5 and up at Common Sense Media, in my view by far the best movie rating website for kids & media. Read their review for details.

After seeing the movie at 10 in the IMAX, stay for the Barbie Bash where you and your child can make “surfer fashions” and “wearable mermaid accessories”.

Mythbusters on Tour (3/25/12)

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The name pretty much says it all: Mythbusters, the famous TV show on the Discovery channel goes on tour. If you’ve never seen Mythbusters, well it is about proving or disproving urban legends and other myths, usually involving explosions and crash test dummies. Not something for the youngest among us, but if your child is old enough to watch it on TV and you’re willing to shell out $30 or more to see it live, go for it. Most reviews I read were positive, except that maybe the Q&As are a bit long for a young audience; on the other hand they promise ‘audience participation’, whatever that means!

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/31936113 w=550]

Overall probably an event for hardcore mythbusters fans; if you love that show it is certainly a memorable experience.

The show is downtown in Memorial Auditorium (so don’t expect too much explosive stuff then) and tickets are still available for both the 3pm and the 7pm show.